Nacho Elvira is hoping to return to The European Tour a much more polished and confident player thanks to his immensely successful Challenge Tour experience this year, having claimed immediate graduation with his third victory of the season at last week’s ROLEX Trophy.
The Spaniard’s win in Switzerland followed his triumphs at the Challenge de Madrid and the Kӓrnten Golf Open presented by Mazda and secures him a place on The Race to Dubai for the remainder of this season and all of next season.
Two years ago, the 28 year old launched a late charge to gatecrash the Challenge Tour Rankings, with top ten finishes in the last five events of the season, including victory at The Foshan Open, securing him 14th position and European Tour promotion.
That left little preparation time and Elvira struggled for much of the season before returning to the Challenge Tour this year, but he is confident that he is better equipped now to excel on The European Tour.
“I should be a bit better prepared this time,” he said. “I now have a few months to get ready for next season, a few events on The European Tour, but I’ll be thinking about next season and talking with my coaches to get everything more prepared ahead of 2016.
“I’ve grown up and matured a little bit in the last two years and I see things a bit differently to a couple of years ago. I’ve played a full year on The European Tour which then helped me when I came back to the Challenge Tour this year.
“I didn’t try so hard to get everything done at the beginning, I was more relaxed in the golf tournaments, and that’s helped me a lot in this year. It’s definitely the mindset I need to have for next year on The European Tour.
“My form has been a little bit up and down. I won in Madrid and I won in Austria but after that I missed a few cuts and didn’t manage to put a great score out there.
“I went through a couple of swing changes with my coach ahead of next year, some small changes with my equipment as well, and I started to feel comfortable again. I played better in Madeira and I guess it paid off in the ROLEX Trophy – it’s an unbelievable feeling to be back on The European Tour.
“The Challenge Tour prepares you well for what comes next, it’s definitely the right way to do it. You get to compete against guys that have been on The European Tour, guys who are trying to go to The European Tour like myself, and it is a good preparation for getting to compete and put yourself in positions that you’ll then experience again later on in your career.
“The layout and set up of the courses are a little bit different and the fields are a little bit stronger. I learned that I didn’t really need to play every single week to be able to go up in the Rankings, I just need to be as prepared as I can for every tournament and take some weeks off to rest and prepare better for what’s ahead.”
Spanish golf has enjoyed a strong season on the Challenge Tour, with Borja Virto Astudillo claiming his first professional victory at the D+D REAL Slovakia Challenge to sit 15th in the Road to Oman Rankings.
Emilio Cuartero Blanco then came close to victory in the Northern Ireland Open in Association with Sphere Global and Ulster Bank, and Elvira is hopeful more Spaniards can follow his lead and join him on The European Tour in the future.
“It’s a great time for Spanish golf at the moment,” he said. “The programme we have with the Spanish Federation helps a lot, and it’s great to see Borja and Emilio doing so well.
“It’s all going in the right direction and the more Spanish players we can have on the Challenge Tour and then hopefully The European Tour the better.”
